Wire feeding device

ABSTRACT

A simple and efficient wire feeding device, particularly for fine wire, having a reciprocating feed means and a rotary feed means for the wire in tandem with the rotary feed means being driven by the reciprocating feed means during a feeding operation of said reciprocating feed means. The rotary feed means tends to advance the wire at the same speed or slightly faster than the reciprocating feed means to maintain the wire between the feed means taut and under tension and prevent sagging of the wire causing undesired buckling of the same in feeding. The feed roller of the rotary feed means is driven in feeding direction through a one-way clutch and is held against rotation in the opposite direction by a one-way brake to prevent retrograde movement of the wire. The wire feeding device is usually drivingly connected to a wire fabricating machine by a releasable dog clutch which insures proper timing with respect to the machine whenever the clutch is operative.

United States Patent [72] Inventors [54] WIRE FEEDING DEVICE 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 226/115, 226/148 [51] Int. Cl B65h 17/36 [50] Field ofSearch 226/115,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles Attorney -Johnson and Kline ABSTRACT: A simple and efficient wire feeding device, particularly for fine wire, having a reciprocating feed means and a rotary feed means for the wire in tandem with the rotary feed means being driven by the reciprocating feed means during a feeding operation of said reciprocating feed means. The rotary feed means tends to advance the wire at the same speed or slightly faster than the reciprocating feed means to maintain the wire between the feed means taut and under tension and prevent sagging of the wire causing undesired buckling of the same in feeding. The feed roller of the rotary feed means is driven in feeding direction through a one-way clutch and is held against rotation in the opposite direction by a one-way brake to prevent retrograde movement of the wire. The wire feeding device 'is usually drivingly connected to a wire fabricating machine by a releasable dog clutch which insures proper timing with respect to the machine whenever the 1,497,296 6/1924 Stevenson 226/ll5X clutch is operative.

J; 4 m e o V a; I l I il '[I l" 0 l Hi 9 o E I 6) O o 0 40 o 8 a u 3? 4/ ,3 il g /23 25 PATENTEUJANISIQYI V 7 1 3.556372 sum 1 0F 4 INVENTORS Robe/7f E. Barnes i e W. Barnes A ro/m5 V5 PATENTEU JAN 1 91971 SHEET 2 UF 4 2 K on w nfl mad m M? M 5 4 t Z PAW PATENTED JAN 19 |97| SHEET 3 [IF 4 INVENTORS kobehf E Barnes esl 1.6 [M Barnes a 4.9 nri'amzsvs PATENIEI] JAN 1 9 ran SHEET b BF 4 INVENTOR.5 Robe/ L .E. Eel/Wes LeSZLc? MC Ban 7 5 HTTU/PNEYS WIRE FEEDING DEVICE Heretofore, reciprocating wire feed means have been used tofeed wire to a wire fabricating station. However, when fine wire, such as used for terminals of small electronic components and the like, was fed by such a feed means there was a tendency for the wire to sag between the feed means and the fabricating station causing the wire to buckle when fed.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a novel feed means wherein a reciprocating feed means is combined with a rotary feed means for the wire with the rotary feed means disposed in tandem and positioned adjacent the fabricating station and driven by the reciprocating feed means during a feeding operation thereof to advance and tension the wire leading to the fabricating station and thus prevent sagging I and buckling of the wire.

A feature of the invention resides in the fact that the rotary wire feed means includes a one-way brake on the feed roller thereof which prevents retrograde movement of the wire during the retracting and nonfeeding movement of the reciprocating wire feed means.

Another feature of the device resides in the elimination of guide quills and the ease with which it can be threaded with the wire and the ease with which the components can be removed for cleaning or servicing.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that a dog clutch is employed to drive the wire feeding device from a shaft of the machine having the fabricating station, which dog clutch, when operative, maintains the wire feeding device in timed relation to the operation of the fabricating machine.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the wire fabricating machine showing the wire feeding device in position.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the wire feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front view, partly in section, of the rotary wire feeding device.

FIG. 6 is a view, partly in section, of the driving gear taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

The present invention is shown as applied to a wire fabricating machine, herein illustrated as a four-slide wire forming machine 10 having a wire fabricating station 11. The wire feeding device is driven by a shaft 12 of the machine in timed relation to the operation of the fabricating station.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the drive means for the wire feeding device includes a driving gear 13 which is connected to the shaft 12 to be driven thereby by a dog clutch 14. Gear 13 drives shaft 15, through helical gears 16, 17 to rotate the crank disc 18 in predetermined timed relation to the rotation of shaft 12. The crank disc 18 drives a crank arm or link 19 having one end connected to a pin 18a on the disc and its other end connected to a reciprocating carrier 20 slidable on the fixed way 21 (FIG. 3). The carrier has mounted thereon by bolt 22 a mounting plate 23 for a wire gripper means 24 which includes the gripper die 25, a cooperating grip plate 26 and an activating pin 27. The carrier has a presser pin 28 which is normally retracted by spring 29. Pin 28 cooperates with pin 27 to activate the grip plate when pressure is applied thereto by pivoted plate 30 under urge of spring 300. Plate 30 carries a roller 31 cooperating with a presser bar 32 carried on one end of the pivoted feed control lever 33. The other end of the lever carries a roller 34 normally urged into engagement with a cam 35 on the shaft 12 by a spring 36. During the feed stroke of the carrier, the cam causes the control lever 33 to be retracted to enable the pivoted plate 30 to apply pressure to the pin 27 to cause the grip plate 26 to grip a wire W against the die 25 during the forward movement of the carriage during a wire feeding operation. The cam moves the lever to apply pressure to the roller 31 by the bar 32 to cause plate 30 to pivot to remove the pressure of spring 30a from the plate 30 and pin 28 to release the grip on the wire during the return movement of the carriage.

A feature of this construction of the reciprocating feed means resides in the fact that merely by releasing the bolt '22, the entire gripping mechanism can be removed from thecarrier by tilting the pressure plate 30 to relieve gripping pressure on the pin 28 and slipping the bolt 22, mounting plate 23 and elements carried thereby laterally outward with the bolt passing through the slot 20a in the carrier. The removed elements can then be readily cleaned or services.

In accordance with the present invention a rotary feed means 40 is combined with and located in tandem and in spaced relation to the reciprocating feed means to receive wire W fed thereby through guide eye 39 and advance it to the wire fabricating station 11. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, the rotary feed means comprises a roller 41 mounted on a hub 42 secured to a shaft 43 which is connected through a usual one-way clutch 44 to a gear 45. Gear 45 is driven by a gear 46 meshing with a rack 47 secured to the carrier to be reciprocated thereby during operation of, the gripper feed means. A backup roller 48 maintains the rack in engagement with gear 46.

The rotary feed means includes a presser roller 49, preferably of rubber, which is mounted on a pivoted arm 50 and yieldingly urged by spring 51 into contact with the roller 41 so as to frictionally grip the wire therebetween to feed the wire upon rotation of the roller 41.

With this arrangement, as the reciprocating feed means moves forward to feed wire to the machine, the carrier will cause the rack 47 to move relative to the gears 46, 45 in the rotary feed means and rotate the feed roller 41 in a direction to advance the wire gripped thereto by the presser roller 49. In this connection, the ratio ofthe gearing is selected so that the roller 41 has a slightly greater peripheral speed than the linear movement of the wire being fed so that it will produce a tension and maintain the wire between the reciprocating feed means and roller feed means taut,without stretching the wire. This is particularly important where fine wires are being fed. The term "wire" as used herein includes ribbon as well as wire of circular or other cross section. An example of fine wire is a wire of between .005 inches to .020 inches in diameter. The feed can be used with any other wires which are soft and would have a tendency to sag were not this tension applied thereto.

When the reciprocating feed means releases the wire at the end of the feeding stroke and the carrier is returned to a starting position, the rack will be retracted and the one-way clutch 44 will disengage the drive to the feed roller so that the feed roller will not rotate in the opposite direction. To insure that the feed wheel will not so rotate and will also serve as a holding device for the wire to prevent unintentional retrograde movement thereof, the feed wheel is provided with a one-way brake 51a, shown in detail in FIG. 5, in which locking member 52 is disposed between the fixed plate 53 arranged at a slight angle to the periphery of surface 424 on the hub so that the locking member will be moved out of locking contact by the rotation of the roller 41 in the feeding direction, but any tendency to reverse the direction of rotation of the roller 41 will cause the locking member to be gripped between the fixed plate and hub surface 42a to lock the feed roller against retrograde movement.

A feature of the present invention resides in the fact that with the feed means maintaining the wire taut, the usual guide quills can be eliminated for supporting and guiding the wire. Further, this together with the structure of the present wire feeding device, enables the wire to be installed very quickly as it can be easily inserted to lie between the die 26 and plate 25 by rocking the pivot plate 30 against the spring 30a. Also, the wire can be fed through guide eye 39 and between the feed roller 41 and presser roller 49 which has been moved away from roller 41 by overcoming spring 51.

In accordance with the present invention the dog clutch [4 may be manually controlled to enable the wire feeding device to be stopped at will. In the illustrated form of the invention, the clutch comprises a dog 54 pivoted on the shaft 12 (FIG. 2) with its end disposed within a recess 13a formed in gear [3. The dog is normally urged to engaged position by a spring- .pressed plunger 55 carried by the shaft 12. A release member or plunger 56 is slidable in the end of the shaft and has a cam surface 57 engaging a follower 58 carried by the dog 54. The arrangement is such that as the member 56 is pushed inward, the cam surface will cause the dog to rock about its pivot and release the dog from driving engagement with gear 15. A notch 59in the member 56 will receive the end ofthe follower 58 and hold the clutch in release position until the member 56 is withdrawn at which time the spring will'rock the dog in the direction to cause it to engage the recess 13a in gear 13 to drivingly connect it in predetermined relation to said machine shaft 12 to maintain the drive for the feed device in proper time relation to the fabricating means.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

We claim:

1. A wire feeding device comprising a primary cam-controlled reciprocating wire feed means to initially grip and feed a wire during a feeding stroke thereof, means for actuating the reciprocating wire feed means to advance the wire, a secondary cooperating rotary wire feed means spaced from said primary reciprocating wire feed means to receive wire fed thereby and to advance said wire, and means actuated by the reciprocating wire feed means to rotate said rotary feed means, said means including gearing to rotate the rotary feed means slightly faster than the feed of the wire to maintain said wire taut whereby sagging and buckling of said wire are avoided.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the reciprocating feed means includes a slidable carrier having wire gripping means secured thereto by a bolt and slot connection whereby said wire gripping means can be readily removed from the carrier for cleaning and servicing.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotary feed means includes a resilient presser roller carried by a pivoted arm extending in the direction of feed and yieldingly urged into contact with the surface of the feed roller and into gripping relation with the wire.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the last means comprises a rack movable with the reciprocating feed means and wherein the rotary feed means includes a plurality of gears driven by said rack, and a feed roller driven by said gears by means of a one-way clutch whereby said rotary feed means is operative to feed wire only during the feeding stroke of the reciprocating wire feed means.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotary feed means includes a one-way brake to prevent reverse rotation of said feed roller to hold the wire against retrograde movement of the wire during a nonfeeding return stroke of the reciprocating feed means.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the reciprocating feed means includes a sliding carrier having gripping means thereon actuated to grip a wire only during a feeding movement of said carrier, the means for actuating the rotary feed means comprises a rack carried by the carrier, and the rotary feed means includes a plurality of gears driven by said rack, a feed roller driven by said gears by means ofa oneway clutch whereby said rotary feed means is operative to feed and tension the wire during the feeding movement of the carrier and includes a one-way brake acting on the feed roller to prevent retrograde movement of the wire during a nonfeeding movement of the carrier.

7. In combination with a wire fabricating machine having a drive shaft and a fabricating station, of a wire feeding device comprising a primary reciprocating feed means to initially grip and feed a wire toward said fabricating station durin a feeding stroke thereof, means connected to said drive sha t for actuating the reciprocating wire feed means in predetermined timed relation to said machine, a secondary cooperating r0- tary wire feed means spaced from said reciprocating wire feed means and adjacent the fabricating station to receive wire fed by said reciprocating feed means and to advance said wire to said station, and means actuated by the reciprocating feed means to rotate said rotary feed means during a feed stroke thereof, said rotary wire feed means maintaining the wire extending between said feed means tensioned and taut to prevent sagging and buckling thereof.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 wherein the means connected to the drive shaft for actuating the wire feeding device includes a manually releasable dog clutch which always connects the wire feeding device to said drive shaft to provide a predetermined timed relation with respect to the operation of the fabricating station. 

1. A wire feeding device comprising a primary cam-controlled reciprocating wire feed means to initially grip and feed a wire during a feeding stroke thereof, means for actuating the reciprocating wire feed means to advance the wire, a secondary cooperating rotary wire feed means spaced from said primary reciprocating wire feed means to receive wire fed thereby and to advance said wire, and means actuated by the reciprocating wire feed means to rotate said rotary feed means, said means including gearing to rotate the rotary feed means slightly faster than the feed of the wire to maintain said wire taut whereby sagging and buckling of said wire are avoided.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the reciprocating feed means includes a slidable carrier having wire gripping means secured thereto by a bolt and slot connection whereby said wire gripping means can be readily removed froM the carrier for cleaning and servicing.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotary feed means includes a resilient presser roller carried by a pivoted arm extending in the direction of feed and yieldingly urged into contact with the surface of the feed roller and into gripping relation with the wire.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the last means comprises a rack movable with the reciprocating feed means and wherein the rotary feed means includes a plurality of gears driven by said rack, and a feed roller driven by said gears by means of a one-way clutch whereby said rotary feed means is operative to feed wire only during the feeding stroke of the reciprocating wire feed means.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotary feed means includes a one-way brake to prevent reverse rotation of said feed roller to hold the wire against retrograde movement of the wire during a nonfeeding return stroke of the reciprocating feed means.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the reciprocating feed means includes a sliding carrier having gripping means thereon actuated to grip a wire only during a feeding movement of said carrier, the means for actuating the rotary feed means comprises a rack carried by the carrier, and the rotary feed means includes a plurality of gears driven by said rack, a feed roller driven by said gears by means of a one-way clutch whereby said rotary feed means is operative to feed and tension the wire during the feeding movement of the carrier and includes a one-way brake acting on the feed roller to prevent retrograde movement of the wire during a nonfeeding movement of the carrier.
 7. In combination with a wire fabricating machine having a drive shaft and a fabricating station, of a wire feeding device comprising a primary reciprocating feed means to initially grip and feed a wire toward said fabricating station during a feeding stroke thereof, means connected to said drive shaft for actuating the reciprocating wire feed means in predetermined timed relation to said machine, a secondary cooperating rotary wire feed means spaced from said reciprocating wire feed means and adjacent the fabricating station to receive wire fed by said reciprocating feed means and to advance said wire to said station, and means actuated by the reciprocating feed means to rotate said rotary feed means during a feed stroke thereof, said rotary wire feed means maintaining the wire extending between said feed means tensioned and taut to prevent sagging and buckling thereof.
 8. The invention as defined in claim 7 wherein the means connected to the drive shaft for actuating the wire feeding device includes a manually releasable dog clutch which always connects the wire feeding device to said drive shaft to provide a predetermined timed relation with respect to the operation of the fabricating station. 